My Healthier Snack Ideas Under 200 Calories

Are you a snack person? Generally I am not. But it's different now as I breastfeed our second daughter and feel hungry more frequently. Whenever I think of a snack, I most of the time think of something savory rather than sweet. But if I do feel like some sweet snack, it's mostly some whole fruit and nut butters. In any case I always try to go for a gluten- and dairy-free option with minimal refined sugar.

I have recently tried Thrive Market membership and discovered a few new yummy and healthier snacks there. Also, our newly acquired Costco membership helped with expanding our snacking menu even further. Here is a list of my personal favorite snacks under 200 calories at the moment, which includes both prepackaged and homemade quick bites.

My top snack ideas under 200 calories

Beet chips. I don't usually buy any vegetable chips as I try to avoid chips in general. But I absolutely love this find from Thrive Market (I guess I just love beets in any shape or form.) They literally have only 1 ingredient, beets, in them (plus salt in a sea salt flavor) and are so perfectly crunchy and yummy. On top of that, they are only 130 calories per bag. I know there are all sorts of other vegetable chips out there, but these are definitely my favorite from what I've tried so far!
Beef jerky. I discovered this 12-pack with 1.25 oz 90-calorie bags in Costco a couple of weeks ago. They are pretty much my ideal snack - salty, chewy, and packed with lean protein. I've also seen salmon jerky there but haven't tried it yet (next on my to-try list.)
Crunchy chickpeas from Saffron Road. They come in many savory flavors, such as falafel, sea salt, or Bombay spice, and are 130 calories per serving. However, my problem with them is that they come in a bigger bag. And they are so deliciously crunchy that it's hard to stop after one serving.
Raw nuts. I can't say enough how much I love nuts. I got better with limiting how much nuts I eat at once after I tried doing food and calorie tracking with FatSecret. However, while nuts are high in calories (150-200 cal per 1 oz), they are a great source of 'good' fats and Omega-3 fatty acids. My favorite nuts for snacking are raw organic almonds, pecans and pistachios. Recently I also started making a mix from different nuts and roasting them in the oven for just 10 minutes at 350 F, with a pinch of Himalayan salt.
Whole fruit. Green apples have been my go-to snack for a long time already, especially during pregnancies (50-70 calories depending on the size). My other fruit alternatives include watermelon or melon cut in cubes and berries.
Dried apple slices, such as these organic ones from Bare. I normally buy them for my daughter, but sometimes I like to snack on them as well. There are made from organic apples without anything else added to them and are only 110 calories per serving.
Apple slices with nut butter. For me, this is always such a refreshing, filling and satisfying combo! And a whole apple and 1 Tbs of nut butter comes down to 150-180 calories. As for the nut butters, I love almond and pecan butters, but don't really have a favorite brand there. However, my all-time favorite peanut butter is Trader Joe's crunchy salted peanut butter with flax seeds and chia.
Red quinoa and rice thin crackers from Lundberg with various toppings, such as nut butter, sheep's milk burrata with a touch of honey and pink salt, avocado or hummus. In general, Lundberg has been my go-to brand for whole grains and grain products, such as wild rice mixes, rice crackers or even brown rice malt syrup (as a sugar alternative.)
Unsweetened yogurt with berries. This is not my frequent snack, but when I do eat it, I use unsweetened coconut milk yogurt from So Delicious (110 calories per individual container.)
Boiled eggs. I like eggs, but I don't usually think of them as snacks. However, they definitely make a great filling snack with only 70 calories per large egg. And did you know that eggs are listed among the most nutritious foods on the planet?
Liquid 'snacks'. Sometimes I really feel like a warming and filling drink rather than a food snack. In that case, my current favorites include matcha latte from Matcha Love green tea powder or golden milk latte from Gaia, which I make with some non-dairy milk alternative, or a big mug of loose leaf tea with or without some warm frothed milk.
Water! Yes, drinking water is a great way to prevent snacking when you don't actually need it. A lot of times we mistakenly take dehydration for hunger. So when I feel hungry at some random time, I always remind myself to drink water first and wait for a few minutes to see if hunger persists.

In general, I try to minimize snacking with prepackaged processed snacks as much as I can. I have seen a lot of healthy premade snacks, which are gluten-, dairy- and sugar- free, such as fruit and nut bars, bars made from vegetables, puffed grains and seeds or 'healthy' cookies. To be completely honest, I'm not a huge fan of those. Some of the premade snacks have quite a long list of ingredients, including dried fruit, nuts, seeds, chia, protein powder, coconut, etc. And most of the time they are all pressed into a tiny bar which still comes to a pretty high calorie number. I much rather eat a piece of whole fruit and a handful of nuts or pick just a few pure wholesome ingredients and enjoy them in my own favorite combination, instead of having them all mixed up for me.

You might like some of the items on my list more than others depending on whether you prefer sweet or savory snacks. But I hope you get some ideas to expand your snacking repertoire. Enjoy!